


Work So Well (And We Don't Even Know Why)

by Bambijo5023



Category: Fright Night (2011)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Age Difference, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety Attacks, Attraction, Basically everything that comes with Fright Night, Betrayal, Blood Drinking, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Dark, Dark Imagery, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Issues, Feelings Realization, Here in NZ you're legally recognised as an adult at the age of 18, Humor, Insecurity, OC could be considered underage in your country so I tagged this as underage, Potentially explicit sexual content, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Swearing, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, Vampires, Will update tags if sexual content becomes explicit, altered timeline, sibling angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-01-23 22:10:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18558883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bambijo5023/pseuds/Bambijo5023
Summary: Martine Flores-Brewster. 18 years old. The adopted daughter/sister of Jane and Charley Brewster. An honour roll student with a soft spot for the arts and music. Currently not on speaking terms with her brother after a fight they had regarding his recent behaviour. She's just trying to survive high school, trying to navigate the responsibilities of adulthood that were going to be thrust upon her as soon as she finished the year. She didn't need to be dealing with Charley's douchebag 'friends', didn't need to be listening to her mother rant on and on about how the neighbour was sabotaging her sales. And she certainly didn't need to be dealing with Charley's ex-best friend's rambling about how there was 'evil afoot' in their small suburb. She just wanted to finish high school, go to art school and let that be the end of it.At least the new neighbour seemed to be relatively sane.He was pretty handsome too.But her brother was adamant that he was a vampire.Of bloody course.





	1. Prologue

It was two in the morning and she just laid in her bed listening to the thunder rumble above the house. She knew she shouldn’t be awake, not if she wanted to have decent chance of getting up when her alarm went off and not being reprimanded by her mother or used as an example of a 'stereotypical teen' who couldn't be trusted with their devices at night. But she just couldn’t seem to let herself fall asleep. She was sure that it wasn’t because of the storm as she often fell asleep soundly during the summer storms that seem to strike every other night. There was just something that was making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, something that made her completely aware of every move she made as she tossed and turned in her bed, that made her aware of every breath she released into the silence. One of the closest things she could really compare it to was the feeling of wariness and anticipation she had once instinctively felt while watching a documentary on the food chain in her biology class. It also could have been because of the recent news about odd occurrences taking place around Las Vegas and the area of land near the suburb where she lived. News about people apparently attacking others at night, the latest being a man attempting to bite a woman in the supermarket parking lot while she was trying to take her groceries to her car. Normally she wouldn't have really paid any mind to that sort of thing, but as she watched that report earlier in the night, she couldn't help but feel as though something else was going to happen. Something big. And she hadn't been able to shake the feeling since.   
  
  
  
That, she supposed, could be the reason why she was finding it so hard to simply close her eyes and fall asleep. A flash of light and large crash drew her out of her musings, her eyes darting across the room to her window. Noticing a slight breeze shifting the curtains, she let out a sigh and sat up. Reaching down to pull the covers off of her legs, she swung them over the side of the bed and stood up with an exaggerated stretch that popped several kinks along her spine. A satisfied huff left her at that. Staggering across the room with a wide yawn stretching her jaw until it ached, she pulled the curtains apart and reached out to close the window when she spotted something, _someone_ , skulking around the front of the house next door.

 

Blinking in confusion, she leant forward and narrowed her eyes to get a better grasp of what she was seeing. So what if she was being nosy? It wasn't everyday that you look out the window and see someone doing yard work at 2 in the morning. Despite the darkness surrounding the house, she could make out a male figure pushing a wheelbarrow about in the front yard. _‘What the hell could he be moving this late?’_ She thought to herself as she watched the shadowy figure move with an ease that was honestly surprising considering how dark it was outside. _‘He must have a death wish to be doing this sort of stuff during a thunderstorm.’_ Glancing skyward at the pitch-black clouds, she couldn’t help but jump when a sudden flash momentarily blinded her and a resounding ‘BOOM’ made the glass in her window rattle wildly as though it was about to leap from the pane. Sucking in a deep breath to try and calm her erratically beating heart, she let her eyes fall back to the yard and promptly froze. The figure had completely stopped in his tracks, simply holding the wheelbarrow in his hands as if the concrete in it didn't weigh a thing. And from what she could see, he was staring right back at her.

   
  
She just stood there. Despite not being able to even see him, she felt paralysed by what she could only guess was his gaze pinning her to the spot. Too shocked to bring her own gaze away from him, she somehow didn’t even react to the lightning that struck at that very moment. Didn’t make a sound when the brief moment on light illuminated the man staring at her, didn’t even register what he looked like when she found herself staring into dark, practically pitch-black eyes. Dark enough that she felt like she was in a daze simply from just meeting them. But as quickly as that burst of light came, the quicker it disappeared and left her once again in darkness. All the breath she had in her body flooded out of her as she hurriedly reached out and slammed the window shut before tugging the curtains to a close. She stayed there for a good while, her wide eyes staring at the crumpled material she was clutching in her hands as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. Her hands were even _shaking_ from how much that had startled her. Swallowing dryly, she slowly backed away from her window and clasped her hands together in an attempt to keep them from Shaking. Oddly enough, she seemed to be struggling to catch a breath when the memory of those eyes lingered in her mind. Shivers began to uncontrollably run down her spine the more she thought of them, the more she thought of how unfathomable their depths were. Almost as though she was staring into a deep pool of dark water that seemingly had no bottom. Shaking her head vigorously as she climbed back into bed in an attempt to force the image of them from her mind, she found herself feeling drained and exhausted as the shock and adrenaline slowly started to leave her system. Lowering her head to her pillow and pulling her covers around her in a protective cocoon only served to make her realise how tired she truly was.  
  
  
That was how she finally found herself succumbing to slumber, to the sound of crashing thunder and the distinct feeling that she was still being seared by the burning intensity of the man’s eyes.  
  
  
  
She didn’t even realise that through the gap she had inadvertently left in the curtains, those dark eyes were still watching her.  
  
  
  
And that they watched her well until the morning light.

 


	2. Chapter One: Welcome To Suburbia! New Faces Are Always Welcome (Most Of The Time)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martine can't shake the feeling that something odd is going on. Why else would she be jumping at shadows and getting antsy at the mention of the attacks that have been happening? What's even worse is that she can't stop thinking about the man from the night of the thunderstorm, on top of having to deal with how guilty she feels about her deteriorating relationships with her family! Why can't things just be simple for once?
> 
> Oh, right. Because it's HER.
> 
> Fucking great.

* * *

  
  
  
In the Las Vegas suburb of Rancho Corvalis, the sun was bright and shining with an obnoxiously over-exaggerated golden sheen. A complete juxtaposition to the almost violent thunderstorm that had raged in the sky only two nights ago, dark clouds crackling with thunder and lightning well into the early hours of the morning. In the wake of such dismal weather, it seemed that the whole suburb was up and willing to make the most of the sunshine despite it being a week day. SUV’s came and went in a steady flow along the streets, the rare sports car being stared at with thinly veiled envy as it sped along the tarmac with a few wild revs of it’s engine. People were walking their dogs, going for an early morning jog, small children playing with a hose and sprinkler in the steadily warming sun. Some people even took the chance to wash their cars, scrubbing vigorously at the already shining windows and glistening hubcaps as though there were invisible dirt particles that _needed_ to be scraped away. Mothers walking with their children stopped to greet each other on the sidewalks, what was meant to be a quick chat easily escalating into a full blown gossip session as their children shuffled impatiently at their sides. Dozens of practically identical two story houses lined the streets, all in varying shades of warm timbre, neutral creamy whites and pale beiges. The very image of a stereotypical suburban neighbourhood, the epitome of the ideal way of living within America that the country’s forefathers would have grown overcome with greed for and fought over incessantly.

 

Many would consider those that live in these sort of neighbourhoods to be incredibly lucky and well off.

 

***BEEP BEEP BEEP***

 

Especially when the property market for said suburbs were rising so much in the oncoming seasonal changes in the state of Nevada.

 

 ** _*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*  
_**  
  
  
So honestly, the people who managed to snag one of the houses here for a decent price? Luckiest people in the world.

 

**_*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BE-*_ **

 

And it was clear as hell that Martine Flores-Brewster just wasn’t among the lucky few.

 

Letting out a groan when her clock finally decided to stop beeping like a bomb on the verge of exploding, she buried her face back into her pillow with a sigh. She REALLY did not want to get up. Didn’t want to spend what seemed to be an absolutely gorgeous day meandering around school through the hordes of zombie-like students and trying/failing to at least have something resembling an at least decent time in said hellhole. But she knew that if she didn’t attempt to get her shit together before her backup alarm went off, her mother would honest to god skin her alive and fashion said skin into a lovely rug to use in one of her numerous open homes. Not to mention, she inwardly mused with the most meagre amount of enthusiasm she felt was at least a bit acceptable for this early in the morning, she had dance practice after school anyway. So there wasn’t really any point in trying to avoid it. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t whine and moan about it. She reluctantly flipped over onto her back and kicked childishly at the blankets that were wrapped around her legs from a night’s worth of tossing and turning. Giving a reluctant cheer when she finally managed to free her limbs from the comfortably tempting trap, she sat up and flung the rest of the bedspread away blearily to swing her legs over the edge of her mattress. Glancing again at her clock, she finally allowed a smile curve her lips in satisfaction at the time. 6:25. Good. She'd be able to have a decent breakfast and a quick shower before she had to leave for school. At least that was something to make her feel a bit better before she threw herself ‘into the fray’ as it were. Although she was sure that her mother probably wouldn’t appreciate that she was comparing public high-school to warfare.

 

Even though they were legitimately the exact same thing.

 

She easily set herself into a quiet rhythm after finally pushing herself up from her bed. Stumbling over to her closet, pulling out a few clothes for school and stuffing an old t-shirt and pair of shorts into her duffle bag for dance. Moving back over to her drawer to grab a new bra and some clean underwear for after her shower. Just the basics of her everyday routine. It wasn't until she glanced over at the window that she came to a pause, her distracted humming ebbing further away into silence the longer she spent gazing at the tightly shut curtains. Even though she saw them every day, had picked them out herself with unending excitement at the thought of having them in her favourite colour, red, she just couldn't help but almost feel... On edge. As if the very sight of them were making her non-existent hackles rise in fearful anticipation. A flash of impossibly dark eyes flooded her mind, coming so suddenly and fiercely that she had to look away. She quickly gathered her things into her arms and practically bounded out of the room, weirdly feeling like one of the prey animals she had been learning about in biology. The ones that sense a predator before seeing it and take off the minute any danger makes itself known. The tension stayed with her throughout the rest of her morning, coiling restlessly among the heavy and suffocating steam of her shower and then practically clinging to her like a second skin as she absentmindedly shovelled her cereal into her mouth. Martine could see that her mother was a bit concerned with how spacey and out of it she was being, her eyes unwavering in their study of her slumped form as she sipped away at the steaming mug she clasped between her palms. It was completely quiet when she pushed her seat back to go up and rinse her empty bowl out in the sink. The silence hung in the air between them for a moment or two before her mother sighed. 

 

"Honey, maybe you should stay home today."

  
  
Blinking in surprise, she turned to look at her mother over her shoulder. Jane gazed back at her with a soft smile. Martine couldn’t help but feel a rush of guilt settle deep within her chest as she stared at the woman who had raised her. Jane Brewster was a very stubborn but caring woman who deeply loved her kids and completely devoted herself to whatever they needed. She always tried to be involved in everything they did, gave them advice on whatever was troubling them without fail and they’d repaid that love by pulling away from her. By pulling away from each other. Martine wasn’t able to stop herself from glancing over at the photo hanging on the wall across from the pair of them, wasn’t able to stop the bitter frown that formed on her face when she took in the frozen, smiling faces of her younger self, her mother… And her brother. Charley. Her brother whom she hadn’t been on speaking terms with for about half a year now. That was one of the main reasons why she’d been holding back from spending too much time with Jane, the older woman often getting fed up with their behaviour and trying to sit them down to get them to talk to one another. Martine wasn’t all too interested in apologising when she knew that her mother did agree with her on some of the things she’d said during ‘the incident’ that lead her relationship with her brother to go downhill. And she quickly grew sick of her mother trying to make excuses for him, leading to them having arguments and disagreements of their own that left her feeling sick to her stomach whenever she heard her mother crying whenever they were particularly vicious with one another. So she resigned herself to having as little contact as possible. Just enough so Jane didn’t think that Martine resented her or that she didn’t love her, but not enough for them to fall back into the same repetitive cycles that more often than not involved her mother asking her to make up with her brother.  
  
  
  
That didn't mean that she doesn’t feel like a complete and utter asshole for avoiding her mother simply to make herself feel better.  
  
  
  
“It’s okay mom. I’m fine, really.” Martine smiled reassuringly at her mother, placing the freshly cleaned bowl in the dish rack beside her. “I guess I’m just a bit tired from the other night. Trying to sleep through thunder and lightning is definitely the absolute worst.” Jane empathetically nodded in response. “Yeah. I get that. I’m still trying to shake off the last bit of exhaustion from work last night.” At the questioning stare she received, the older woman shook her hand dismissively. “Nothing to worry about honey. Just a bit of late night frustration. A lot of people are moving out of town which is kind of putting a damper on how I’m trying to get people to move HERE. From what I’ve heard, people are moving away because of the attacks that’ve been happening lately. I can understand their concern but really? Packing up and moving across state just because some weirdo’s been trying to bite people?”  
  
  
  
Martine paused, her eyes briefly widening at the mention of the attacks she'd first heard about on the night of the storm. The night when she saw...   
  
  
  
"Anyway," She barely managed to stop herself from jumping as she turned around to watch her mother take a final sip of her drink. "I'd better get everything sorted so I'm not running around like a headless chicken later on." Jane went to stand, her mug held tightly in her hand before she stopped and smiled gratefully when the other reached out to take it from her grasp and set it on the bench. "Thanks honey." Martine nodded, giving a warm smile of her own as she turned to walk out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her room. She snickered when she heard her mother groaning about the time, having already checked it before leaving the kitchen, and calling out to her brother to get up. At the thought of her brother though... She came to a stop before entering her bedroom, her head turned to gaze down the hallway at his bedroom door. There definitely had been times where she had considered it. Apologising. When she thought about burying her pride and saying sorry. She knew that she had been a bit harsh in her criticisms of how he'd been acting recently, knew that it was too soon to bring up a certain... Person they'd both rather not think about anymore. But she'd just gotten so sick of him being such a douche, fed up with how he started ignoring Adam and Ed so he could hang out with Mark and Ben. She'd hated how he was trying too hard to be popular, to fit in with the 'cool kids' and trying to fashion himself into something he wasn't. She couldn't help herself from ripping into him. But then he took it too far. Squaring her jaw, Martine shook her head to shake away the bitterness, the anger she still felt and turned away to walk into her bedroom. And if she closed the door a little too hard? Honestly, who could blame her.  
  
  
  
By the time she'd packed everything she'd need for the day into her backpack, it was about 7:15. She unhurriedly carried her things downstairs, sweeping into the kitchen to grab a small snack and press a quick kiss to her mother's cheek as she went past for good measure. The morning air was crisp and warm when she stepped outside, a bounce in her step and a fond smile on her face as she made her way down the driveway to her baby. Ah, her baby. A bright, nearly neon if she was completely honest, blue 1976 ford ranger pickup, a car that she worked on with her own two hands after purchasing it from a junkyard a mile or two out from the suburbs on her 16th birthday. She'd bought it with the money she'd saved up from working in the city during the summer and still felt the same excitement she felt then anytime she got to drive it. She thankfully didn't have to pay for the paint job, gratefully accepting her mother's offer to pay for it as a reward for using her money responsibly. It definitely wasn't in perfect condition, occasionally breaking down if it overheated or left going in stationary for too long but she didn't really mind that it was rough around the edges. As long as it was otherwise running well and looking good? She was happy. Popping open the driver side door, she tossed her bags across to the passenger seat before jumping up and planting herself into the driver's seat with a small wiggle to settle herself in the plush cushion before reaching down to put her keys into the ignition. And then, she suddenly got the feeling that she was being watched. Again. Raising her head and glancing around, Martine frowned when she saw that no one was in sight. At least anyone that was watching her. The few people she could see where either facing away from her as they walked or were distracted in distant conversations that she couldn't make heads or tails of from where she was sitting. Unless... She discreetly looked towards the house across from hers, her hands slowly gripping the steering wheel tighter as the feeling suddenly intensified. She slowly looked from each window that she could see, trying to see if she could see ANYTHING out of the ordinary. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see anything. Biting her lip in contemplation, she gave the house one last long stare before looking away to and starting up the car.  
  
  
  
  
But as she pulled out of the driveway, absentmindedly bobbing her head and humming along to the music that immediately began to blast from her car's speakers when it sparked into life, she was completely oblivious to the figure who reappeared in the top story window after hiding its presence so it would pass unnoticed from her keen and searching gaze. Dark eyes practically glittered in the shadows of the room, alight with intrigue and wonder while hideously sharp teeth were bared in a predatory grin that literally spread from ear to ear. "Well, there you are." A sinful drawl, reverberating violently in the empty room as it deepened into an almost demonic growl that rose up from deep within an otherwise barren chest in barely hidden excitement.  
  
  
  
_**"I just can't WAIT to meet you, darlin'..."**_

* * *

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh mY GOD, I CANNOT BELIEVE IT HAS TAKEN ME THIS DAMN LONG TO POST THIS CHAPTER! I'm so sorry for the wait guys, I've just been so stuck on how to continue on with the story now that I've added Martine into the plot. I had literally tried out 20 different writing styles, point of view's, starting out from specific parts of the plot etc. But now, I've finally done it and I hope that it makes up for the long wait you have had to put up with because of my sorry self. I will say that this chapter is a bit more of a filler to help establish the relationships between Martine and her family as well as the conflicts between them in a more sophisticated manner than the way it's described in the summary for this fic as a whole. And it's helping to move the plot along so we can finally have Martine meet a certain someone ;) Anyway, I won't make excuses but I will say that I am definitely feeling a lot better on how to move forward with the story and will definitely be posting new chapters more often.
> 
> Please let me know what you guys think of the new chapter, I'd love to hear your opinions on what you think I did well and what you think I can improve on within the future :D
> 
> Bambijo out!

**Author's Note:**

> Well well well~ That's certainly an ominous start to this story isn't it? I hope you guys enjoyed it despite it being a bit short. I just felt that a good introduction/prologue doesn't really have to have too much to it, otherwise it kind of just drags on and leaves you kind of feeling bored when it should leave you feeling an anticipation to what's going to come in the story! Anyway, thank you so much for clicking to read this piece of mine :D It's something I've been meaning to write for a really, REALLY long time but never got round to doing until I re-discovered my absolute love of this movie and my definite appreciation for Colin Farrell ;) I can only hope that I'm able to do the source material justice, provide you guys with a decent time reading and even be able to make a pretty darn good story! Now, I cannot promise that I will be able to not be a perfectionist, actually post my chapters instead of nitpicking every single detail and stress over whether or not it's good enough, but I can certainly promise that when I do update, I will do my damn best to produce long chapters to make up for the time passed between my postings. Please feel free to leave reviews/opinions on what you think of this fic so far, I'd love to be able to work your critiques/ideas into the story and make it more enjoyable for you all~
> 
> Bambijo out :)


End file.
